A

Tenderness implies an acute inflammatory process; in the submandibular triangle the structure most frequently inflamed is the submandibular group of cervical lymph nodes, producing an acute lymphadenitis/lymphadenopathy. Ludwig’s angina and phlegmon cause more diffuse, bilateral or ill-defined floor-of-mouth cellulitis rather than a discrete tender node. [Block, 2014, PMID 25290125; Pinho, 2021, PMID 33952565]